'Blue Lives Matter' Laws: A Punishment In Search Of A Crime
In one tidy story we can see why this law is both dangerous and useless at the same freaking time.
Cops lives do matter… which is probably why we have laws in every state proscribing aggravated penalties for crimes against police.
You might have heard that a man in New Orleans was arrested under the state’s new and controversial “Blue Lives Matter” law. What you may not have heard is that the police department has now said the officers were wrong to arrest the man and charge him under the new statute.
And so in one tidy story we can see why this law is both dangerous and useless at the same freaking time
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First, let’s talk about utility. Louisiana is one of many states that has “hate crimes” legislation. If you beat down another man, that’s one penalty. But if you beat them down because of their race or orientation or whatever, that’s an entirely different, aggravated penalty.
I have issues with hate crimes legislation. It’s well meaning… but if you see me curb-stomping a mothf**ker, you can be pretty sure that there is hate in my heart. Whether or not that hate is racially motivated should be somewhat beside the point. Let’s hope curb-stomping gets you punished to the fullest extent of the law, even if you are a goddamn, post-racial Care Bear who sees only candy and rainbows.
On the other hand, hate crime legislation can be useful for elevating ticky-tack crimes to the appropriate level of seriousness: if you make it a point to backhanded-slap every black person you see, maybe you should be in a jail a little bit longer than the guy who smacks a patron at Buffalo Wild Wings for making too big a deal about Tom Brady. But in general, the punishment should fit the crime, not your dark secret motivations for committing the crime.
In Louisiana, the “blue lives matter” laws place crimes against police, firefighters, and EMS technicians in the same “hate crime” category as other disadvantaged groups. So if I hit you because you are a cop, it’s a much more serious offense than if I… hit a cop? Or something?
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That’s the freaking problem. Hitting a cop is already a pretty serious offense. We already have elevated penalties for crimes committed against police officers. Go ahead, go out there and hit a cop and say “I only did it because you gave me a citation, not because you are wearing the uniform.” See how that works out for you. (Ed. note: Do not, under any circumstance, hit a freaking cop.)
In the instant case, Raul Delatoba did not hit a cop. He cursed at them. He called them some really bad names. He made a general ass of himself. The cops arrested him under this new blue hate crimes law. It was the wrong thing to do. The New Orleans Police communications director, Tyler Gamble, said so today:
Gamble wrote in his email, “After reviewing the initial facts of the case, it is clear that the responding officer incorrectly applied the law relative to a hate crime in this incident.” Gamble said the district attorney’s office will have to make the final decision regarding what charges Delatoba will face, if any. “In the meantime,” he wrote, “we are in the process of training all officers and supervisors on the updated law to ensure it is applied properly moving forward.”
Thing is, if cursing out the police is not a hate crime against police (and it’s not), then what is? What is a hate crime against a police officer that needs more punishment than the enhanced penalties we stick on anybody who assaults or does something heinous to a police officer? Even the man who wrote the stupid bill doesn’t know:
Here’s how you can be sure that the law is bad: When a reporter asked the man who wrote the bill if he thought it appropriate for NOPD to pull out the hate crime statute for a man who cussed at them, the bill’s author declined to say no. Instead, Rep. Lance Harris, R-Alexandria, punted and said how or if to charge Delatoba would be “left up to the DA’s interpretation.” Of course. That’s always the case, no matter the accusation.
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I mean, if you ask most cops, Colin Kaepernick is about to commit a hate crime against them every Sunday. I don’t see how this is a tool that the cops need to enhance their safety. (Ed. note: Do not, under any circumstance, ask cops about Colin Kaepernick.)
The law is useless. But it’s still quite dangerous. As we’ve seen here, the cops arrested and charged a man that they shouldn’t have. They felt emboldened to do so. In this environment, anything that gives the cops an additional excuse to stop people puts the police and the citizens in more danger. If Delatoba had “resisted” his incorrect arrest, he might be dead now.
We don’t need more laws to protect cops. We need to hold everybody accountable for breaking the law. The cops are already pretty good at doing that when there’s a crime against one of their own. They’ve been entirely terrible at doing that when the crime is committed by one of their own.
We don’t need “blue lives matter” laws. We need RICO predicates for cops who conspire to cover up the bad behavior of other cops.
Oh, and to the people there who feel the need to go out there and curse at some police officers, screw you too. Tensions, you might have noticed, are a little bit high right now. Nobody wants to waste time defending your right to be a prick.
